Gameloft’s N.O.V.A. 3 crash lands onto the iPhone and iPad

While Gameloft has been fairly quiet with new App Store offerings of late, the publisher has dropped the big one today with the release of the highly anticipated N.O.V.A. 3 – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance. The first two N.O.V.A’s are widely considered to be among the best FPSes on iOS and the third instalment raises the stakes further by using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3. Among some of its technical highlights include “real-time shadow and lights, particle system and ragdoll physics”. Compared to the similarly styled Crysis games, N.O.V.A 3 takes place 4 months after the hit sequel and features 10 levels across the galaxy, multiple weapons and powers and 6 multiplayer modes that supports up to 12 players.

The game appears to be iDevice friendly as it supports even the iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch 3rd gen and iPad 1. N.O.V.A 3 (a 1.57 GB download) has already been released on the New Zealand App Store and should be making its way across other stores (including US) later in the day. Video trailers and more info after the gap.

Description

The most immersive and impressive sci-fi FPS franchise on smartphones is back! Fight for mankind’s survival in the greatest space shooter on mobile devices!

Four months have passed since Kal ruined the Volterites’ plans by sabotaging their war factories, and stopping the extraction of the Judger Artifacts. However, following the assassination of President Folsom, the government surrendered the colonies to the Volterite Protectorate in order to prevent civil war between the increasingly pro-Volterite citizens. Kal Wardin has been laying low since Folsom’s death, nut now he has received a desperate plea from Yelena to come to Earth. Once again, the hero must rise to save mankind!

• An epic storyline: Humanity finally returns to Earth after years of exile! Fight in 10 immersive levels across the galaxy, from a war-torn Earth to a frozen Volterite city. • Multiple weapons and powers: Run, shoot, drive vehicles, and pilot a mech to defeat hordes of enemies. • Join 12-player battles in 6 multiplayer modes (Capture the Point, Free-for-All, Capture the Flag, etc.) on 6 different maps. • For the first time, multiple allies can jump inside the same vehicle and spread destruction on the battlefield. • Discover the new FPS benchmark for graphics and gameplay on iOS (real-time shadow & lights, particle system, ragdoll physics, etc.)